Proponents of greater disclosure for the payments that oil, gas, and mining companies make to governments for extraction rights are celebrating news that at least one global oil company is distancing itself from a pending legal challenge.

Norway-based oil company Statoil has spoken out against a pending lawsuit that seeks to overturn rulemaking made in August by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is the first global oil company to come out publicly against the legal challenge.

In October, the American Petroleum Institute, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Foreign Trade Council sued the SEC over the final transparency rule, which was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. It requires registered oil, gas and mining companies to disclose any payment, or series of related payments, totaling $100,000 or more that are made during the course of a fiscal year to the U.S. or foreign governments in exchange for extracting resources.

The complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims, among other things, that the SEC failed to conduct an adequate cost-benefit analysis, and violates the First Amendment by compelling unwanted speech.

"Statoil has not supported the lawsuit initiated by the American Petroleum Institute. In fact, Statoil has explicitly withheld support for the litigation,” wrote Baiba Rubesa, Statoil's vice president for corporate social responsibility, in a letter to international watchdog group Global Witness.

Rubesa wrote that Statoil has publicly disclosed payments in every country of operation since 2007, including in countries where the lawsuit tries to claim disclosure is prohibited by law. “Such reporting is not an impediment for doing business, but has in fact been a competitive advantage for company,” the letter says. “We are certain that our investors and the general public understand that no matter what the final ruling regarding the new SEC rules may be, we will continue to disclose payments.”